Lisbon's Christmas sweets and the king cake

What sweets do people eat at Christmas in Lisbon?

Bolo-rei above all, plus bolo-rainha, fried sonhos and rabanadas, filhoses, azevias, broas de Natal and, on grand tables, a lampreia de ovos.

Most of these are fried, sugared and dusted with cinnamon, and most turn up on the Christmas Eve table after the cod. Sonhos ("dreams") are soft doughnut puffs, some made with pumpkin. Rabanadas are Portugal's take on French toast: bread soaked in sweetened milk with lemon zest, dipped in egg, fried and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Filhoses are fried dough too, crisp and flat in the Alentejo, soft and round further north.

Then come the smaller things. Azevias are little fried turnovers filled with chickpea or almond paste. Broas de Natal are small oval cakes with sweet potato, cinnamon and aniseed. The showpiece is lampreia de ovos, egg yolk sweets shaped like a lamprey, eel-like and glossy, with candied fruit for the eyes. Many Lisbon cafés sell them by the piece through December, so you can taste the lot without cooking.

What is bolo-rei and where does it come from?

A crown-shaped sweet bread with candied fruit, nuts and raisins. The recipe came from France, and Confeitaria Nacional in Lisbon says it introduced it to Portugal.

Confeitaria Nacional, on Praça da Figueira in the Baixa since 1829, says the founder's youngest son brought the recipe back from France in 1875. The shop still sells it, and it says only the owner and its oldest pastry chef know the exact recipe. The ring stands for a crown, the crown of the Three Kings, which is why the cake leads up to Dia de Reis on 6 January.

The name nearly did not survive. After Portugal became a republic in 1910, a cake called "king" looked out of step, and bakers tried names such as Bolo-Presidente. None of them stuck. The old custom of hiding a dried fava bean and a small gift, the brinde, inside has faded: whoever found the bean paid for next year's cake. A 2011 law stopped gifts being mixed straight into food, and the food safety authority, ASAE, has said a brinde is allowed only when it is clearly separate from the food and safe, so most bakeries leave it out.

When do people in Portugal eat bolo-rei and the Christmas sweets?

Bakeries sell them all through December, and the bolo-rei is eaten until Dia de Reis on 6 January. The biggest night is the consoada supper on 24 December, after which many families go to the midnight Mass.

The consoada is a fish supper, not a meat feast. The classic is boiled bacalhau with potatoes, cabbage, eggs and plenty of olive oil, followed by the sweets. Many families then go to the Missa do Galo, the midnight Mass. Christmas Day is for the family lunch, and the bolo-rei keeps coming out until Dia de Reis.

December has two more public holidays in Portugal, both on Tuesdays this year, so expect busy streets and long weekends for locals. Shops and cafés keep shorter hours on the big days, and some close.

Is Pastéis de Belém open at Christmas?

Yes, every day. On 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January it closes early, at 7 PM, instead of the usual 9 PM.

The bakery at Rua de Belém 84 to 92 opens at 8 AM all year. Outside summer it closes at 9 PM, and on the four holiday dates at 7 PM. Its menu lists bolo-rei and bolo-rainha for the Christmas period, sold by weight at €25 and €27 per kilo. Next door, the Jerónimos Monastery closes on 25 December and 1 January, so a Christmas Day visit to Belém is about the tarts and the riverside, not the cloister.

Manteigaria's Belém shop lists 8 AM to 9 PM on its own page. Check it on the day for the holidays. On a holiday the trick is to go early, before the tour groups.

Can you take a pastel de nata class over Christmas?

Yes. The classes run through the winter, so pick a date in the calendar and check the holidays, 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January, when you book.

Each class shows its open days and start times on the booking page, and all of them cancel free up to 24 hours before. That makes a class easy to slot in between family plans. The Lisbon baking class near Belém is the busiest, rated 4.9 from 3,331 reviews, from $61 with juice, coffee, port and a ginjinha tasting. It welcomes children from age 6, which suits a family holiday.

For a second taste of Portuguese baking, the two-recipe class adds a second traditional dish, chosen for each session: on some days codfish fritters, on others farófias, the poached meringue in custard. Small groups suit the season too: the small-group class by Belém takes eight guests at most and offers morning and afternoon starts. A class is a good present, too. Book a date for someone you are travelling with, and the box of tarts comes home with you.

Two hours from dough to oven near Belém, then warm tarts with port and ginjinha: an easy winter afternoon.

★ 4.9 · 2 hours · from $61

Explore the Lisbon baking class → Tour details

Can you take bolo-rei or pastéis de nata home on a plane?

Generally yes. Both are solid foods, so they are generally allowed in hand luggage, but check your airline. Pack them in a bakery box and keep them out of the fridge.

The custard in a pastel de nata is set, not a liquid, and a bolo-rei is a bread. Bakeries sell boxes for travel, and Manteigaria takes orders of any size. Manteigaria's advice for keeping tarts: out of the box, on a plate in a cool, dry place, never in the fridge, where the pastry goes soft. They are still crisp the next day. Warm them for 2 to 3 minutes in an oven at 180 C, not in the microwave.

The best souvenir is the recipe. A class sends you home knowing how to make the tarts, and our home baking guide covers the oven tricks for a normal kitchen.

Frequently asked questions